


white fox

by betweenforever (asukaflying)



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-07
Updated: 2015-08-07
Packaged: 2018-04-26 06:24:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4993684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asukaflying/pseuds/betweenforever
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jongin never asked to be Zitao's anchor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	white fox

**Author's Note:**

> _[inspiration](http://myanimelist.net/anime/9253/Steins%3BGate/episode) _

始まりと終わりのプロローグ

  
  
Zitao isn't really sure what they are. He carries Jongin's lunch to school because he forgot it at home and his mom flagged Zitao in from the window when he walked by on the sidewalk, green trees waving leaves, Zitao skipping seconds.  
  


時間跳躍のパラノイア

  
  
When Sehun asks Jongin if he's dating Zitao, he always answers yes, kicking him under the table to make sure they're on the same page. It's easier that way, and when Zitao starts flickering, today with tomorrow, Jongin only has to reach.  
  


並列過程のパラノイア

  
  
Zitao asked Jongin, the first time they met, two kids in the play yard, Zitao in grade one and Jongin kindergarten, if he could marry him when they were older. Jongin shrugged.  
  
"I'm never getting married," he said, "but you can pretend."  
  


空理彷徨のランデヴー

  
  
Zitao slips through the seconds, half asleep, first he's drifting off in math class and then he's watching himself crossing the lawn to stand in front of a much younger Jongin, reading a book. Even then he could see the time anchor.  
  


電荷衝突のランデヴー

  
  
It's when Jongin gets a cold and stays home from school that Zitao makes a really bad slip; Sehun phones Jongin's mom in tears and Jongin isn't supposed to hear but the walls are too thin and he sneaks out the window.  
  


蝶翼のダイバージェンス

  
  
Sometimes, when Jongin isn't around, Zitao can't hold on to the present, even when he crumples small things that belong to Jongin between his fingers, like a forgotten pen cap or an abandoned piece of scrap paper, biting his bottom lip rusty.  
  


断層のダイバージェンス

  
  
Jongin sits under the tree in Zitao's yard, they've spent a lot of time there when they were younger, and when Jongin was tired of letting Zitao pretend, wanting to be alone for just a moment, Zitao used to flicker through leaves.  
  


夢幻のホメオスタシス

  
  
Slipping through time feels like dreaming awake; Zitao's never dreamed awake but when he reads over Jongin's shoulder sometimes, when he's quiet and Jongin flips the pages, those are the kinds of words that stream off the page. _Time jumping_ , Zitao reads.  
  


幻相のホメオスタシス

  
  
"Look at Jongin," he hears his mom whisper to his sister as they meander through the bookstore, "he likes reading the science fiction books best because of his little boyfriend."  
  
Jongin doesn't bother to correct her, frowning as he turns the corner.  
  


相生のホメオスタシス

  
  
When the teacher asks Zitao was his hobby is, he replies quite honestly, "Jongin," and looks confused when the other six year olds laugh at him, except Kyungsoo, the quiet boy in class.  
  
"Did I say something wrong?" Zitao asks. Kyungsoo nods.  
  


時空境界のドグマ

  
  
Jongin gets tired of Zitao a lot of the time, but everyone likes him so much and feels so sorry for him and sometimes Jongin just wants to scream. Sometimes he wishes he'd never met the small six-year-old in the red shirt.  
  


静止限界のドグマ

  
  
"It's not good to be too honest," Kyungsoo tells Zitao in the empty classroom after everyone else has run out for recess. "There's a reason the sun casts shadows, and we have a word for secrets."  
  
Zitao looks at him solemnly, nodding.  
  


形而上のネクローシス

  
  
Everyone knows that Zitao and Jongin are a package deal, they go together like thunder and lightning, a book and its cover, but when Zitao and Jongin are alone in Jongin's room, Zitao over for supper again, they don't touch at all.  
  


形而下のネクローシス

  
  
Zitao can feel himself slipping, leaves blurring through his skin, spring to summer and he reaches for Jongin out of instinct but Jongin shifts away on the branch, it's probably not intentional but Zitao loses his footing and slips down through time.  
  


亡環上のネクローシス

  
  
Zitao is reaching for him and Jongin is tired, he moves without thinking and suddenly Zitao is completely gone.  
  
"Zitao?" Jongin calls, but there's no answer, and somehow Jongin doesn't really like Zitao but he's terrified, heart pounding until Zitao flickers back.  
  


不可逆のネクローシス

  
  
Jongin is staring at him when Zitao slips back into spring, the summer sun still warm on his skin, and he shivers at the sudden tendril of wind ruffling his hair. Jongin's stare feels heavy, and Zitao doesn't know what to say.  
  


虚像歪曲のコンプレックス

  
  
"Did you have fun playing outside?" Zitao's mom asks at the supper table, and he nods, eyes darting over to Jongin. Jongin's words catch in his throat and he feels so guilty somehow, even though nothing happened.  
  
"Thank you," Zitao's mom says.  
  


自己相似のアンドロギュノス

  
  
"You know," Sehun says, over the sound of plates clattering, forks and knives crashing together in the cacophony of the cafeteria, "sometimes I can't tell if you're dating or married or if you actually hate each other."  
  
Zitao doesn't look at Jongin.  
  


無限連鎖のアポトーシス

  
  
His nose is running and he's cold and his mom is going to yell at him for sneaking out of bed when he's sick but Jongin keeps waiting under the tree anyway. He remembers when Zitao fell and he didn't catch him.  
  


怨嗟断絶のアポトーシス

  
  
Sometimes when Zitao slips through time everything is different. He doesn't know what anything is; the world doesn't look like the world he knows at all. It's usually in bed, between sleeping, and he doesn't tell his mom. It's best that way.  
  


因果律のメルト

  
  
It's after midnight when Jongin starts wondering what will happen if Zitao never slips back into the present. _It's what you always wanted_ , he thinks, but now that it feels all too real, he finds that he doesn't want it at all.  
  


存在了解のメルト

  
  
Zitao is cold, shivering in the other place, a dim moon shining watery through sooty clouds, and he wonders what will happen if he's stuck here forever.  
  
 _At least Jongin will finally be happy_ , he thinks, and it feels like swallowing thorns.  
  


境界面上のシュタインズゲート

  
  
Jongin is blinking to keep himself awake when something flickers in the leaves and Zitao slowly comes into focus, slipping through the branches as Jongin reaches up to catch him. As soon as their skin touches, Zitao solidifies, shivering violently and sniffling.  
  


終わりと始まりのプロローグ

  
  
Zitao is so relieved to finally slip back home but when he falls into Jongin's arms he's so surprised he starts crying, he can't help it, everything overloading when Jongin wraps him up and whispers, "From now on stay with me okay?"  
  


**Author's Note:**

> also posted [here](http://betweenforever.livejournal.com/1102.html) written for [this](http://exoficpalette.livejournal.com/)


End file.
